Monthly Mosaic...

The happenings of December and January...

1. Prince opening his Christmas present
2. We bought ourselves a Kayak!!!!
3. My nephew B with my baby chickens
4. My nephew J getting baptised
5. Huband and brother-in-law at Girraween National Park
6. Brother-in-law and Fiance with Husband and I at Girraween National Park
7. Christmas morning
8. The Pyramid, Girraween N.P.

1. The resident Butcher Bird that likes me to hand feed him

2. Me modeling a new Basilbee top

3. Basilbee is back at the Sunset Markets...first week back was so much fun

4. Charlie the kitten at Ruah Rainforest Retreat

5. View of Mt Warning from behind Ruah Rainforest Retreat

6. Baby chickens are 3 months old now

7. Mt Warning

8. Boarder Loop Lookout

9. Banch Weaving

Holiday snaps... Part 3

Days 4 & 5 of our Cruise was spent exploring 2 tropical islands. We spent half a day on a tour of Lifou which took us to a Vanilla plantation and a Chief's Hut. It was really interesting driving along and seeing how the people lived on Lifou. Often a block of land would have a brick or besser block house as well as a traditional round hut. It was on Lifou that I began to feel as though I was a "superior" white person coming to see how the "natives" lived. It was awful. The people were so beautiful and friendly but I felt like I was coming to observe them in their natrual way of life. (I don't think I am a superior white person. Every person, no matter what their skin colour, gender or religion, is of equal value and worthy of respect and love.)

This is a Chief's Hut. We got to meet the Chief, he was quite young. The guide told us that during a cyclone everyone in the village comes and shelters in this hut to be protected from the storm. 

We walked down a hill through rain forest to see a bay where the local people swim and fish. The water was so clear and beautiful.

On day 5 the ship docked at Port Vila, Vanuatu. We had a Kayaking tour booked so we headed off the ship to find our tour guide. We were among the first people off the ship and the first to walk through the markets and past all the taxi drivers and their vans waiting to try and get tourist to hire them to take them somewhere. It was a bit nerve-wracking walking along and having groups of men surrounding you and asking to take you somewhere. I figured that if we kept walking and said that we had someone meeting us we would be ok and we were. Almost all of them we nice but there were a couple that were a bit sly. 

The Kayaking trip was awsome. It rained but that didn't matter. The river and scenery was beautiful.

We had lovely fresh tropical fruit for morning tea when the trip ended, in the gardens that the tour guide owned on the bank of the river.

We had lunch back on the ship and then decided to explore the markets that we had walked through in the morning.  It was a great day, I have to say that Vanuatu was my favorite part of the cruise. 

Today was a momentous day. I got to spent $100 on Books!! I don't usually get to buy new books. I scout the thrift shops and second hand book stores for additions to my library shelves.

(On a side note, my dream is to have a library like to ones in Jane Austin novels. One with 

floor to ceiling shelves, a ladder and a fireplace.)

I think it took me about an hour to finally decide which books would come home with me.

My selection....

I love historic fiction so I can't wait to lose myself in "The Distant Hours" and "The Pagan Lord",

the green book is about keeping chickens and "Freehand" is an art inspiration book. 

During the last few weeks of uni I started collecting books to read on the summer holidays, I will 

add these ones to the pile...

"If you have a garden and a library, you have 

everything you need."

~ Cicero

Holiday snaps...Part 2

After one and a half days at sea, we stopped at Noumea in New Caledonia. I have to say, I wasn't too impressed with Noumea. The tour we went on was good though. Our guide was very friendly and happy. We went on a 2 hour tour that we booked ourselves before we left Australia. We didn't want to do a tour that was organised by P&O as they are twice the price for the same thing. We did the same in Vanuatu. It wasn't hard to organize, just a few emails back and forth. We paid cash on the day of each tour.

We went to a french bakery, a church and a lookout with a Virgin Mary statue.

The sunset over the harbour was beautiful....

Holiday Snaps...Part 1

The second half of this year has gone so fast, uni assignments have kept me so busy that I didn't have enough time to process my holiday photos until last week. Back in July Leon and I, as well as my parents, went on a Cruise to New Caledonia and Vanuatu. We all had such a great time. It was a good mix of relaxation and exploration. The food was great, so was the entertainment. Every night there was a different stage show to go and see after dinner. We traveled on P&O's Pacific Dawn.

These photos were taken on the first afternoon on the ship. We sailed out of the Brisbane River and up the coast past the Glasshouse Mountains and out to sea.

How does your garden grow.....

Exceptionally well, I thank you....

The veggie patch is so lovely at the moment so I thought I would post some photos. In the patch I have growing cucumbers, tomatoes, rocket, coriander, eggplant, capsicum, beans, rhubarb, strawberries, ceylon spinach and rosellas.

 The ceylon spinach climbing up it's frame. I got these seedlings from a friend who had an over supply of plants so she gave me some.

I planted asparagus for the first time a few weeks ago....I am so looking forward to picking and eating my first homegrown spears off this plant.

Alex, my Buff Sussex Rooster with this girls....he is such a gentleman.

 Some tomatoes nestled in with the pineapple sage....

Me, soaking up the beautiful morning sun in my garden...

Rollerblading and the River at Sunset....

When I was a kid I spent many hours skating and rollerblading with my sister and a friend. Recently I decided I wanted to see if I could still rollerblade. I found a pair of blades my size at one of the local op shops and today I gave it a go....

I went to a park next to the Brisbane river and rediscovered the fun of being on eight wheels. I was a bit wobbly and I fell over (only once though) but it was a lot of fun and a great way to clear my head after a day of staring at screens.
It was such a lovely afternoon. The river was teeming with bird life and it was just near enough to sunset to still be able to take some photos.

It was so peaceful and calm....just lovely...

Easter @ Warwick...

Leon and I packed up the car and drove out to Warwick for part of the Easter long weekend. Leon's sister and brother-in-law (experts in hospitality) gave us a bed for the night. My nephews and niece are growing up fast and this trip gave me plenty of opportunity to photograph them. The camera loves them...

On Saturday we went to the Warwick Easter Markets to spend some money and then out to Girraween National Park.

Girraween is amazing. I really want to go back and explore some of the longer walking tracks. The granite boulders are HUGE and the landscape is really different to other bush walks I have been on in south east Queensland.

All in all we had a great weekend....(Kathryn, thankyou so much for having us stay at your place)

Morning Tea...

Home roasted Guatemalan organic coffee and homemade Carrot & Apple spiced loaf........yummy.....

Grow...

I have been indulging in 2 of my favorite past times...growing things and photography...

Purple...

so pretty...

31 year old Me...

I had my 31st birthday last month and to celebrate my parents and I went for a day trip to Mt Glorious, Mt Nebo and Mt Cootha. The three of us love bushwalking and photography so that is how we spent the day. There are some lovely walks with lookouts looking both east and west along the drive to Mt Glorious. We started at Mt Glorious then made our way to Mt Nebo then Mt Cootha stopping along the way for morning tea and a few scenic walks. There were a few cafes along the way but only one of them was open, the others must only open on the weekends.

31 year old me...

The only cafe that was open had really good coffee and the yummiest peacan pie I can remember having. It was very busy with hordes of leather clad bike riders and a couple of tourist types like us.





Some more photos from the day...

We finished the day with something to eat at the cafe on Mt Cootha.

Mel...

Camping at the dam...so fun...

We went camping at Moogerah Dam with family and friends last weekend. Fun was had by all in spite of the magpie and the cold nights. It was Kathryn (Leon's sister) and family's first camping trip in the new camper trailer and our second camping trip in a fabulous tent. The other people with us were seasoned campers.

We went kayaking on the lake, ate yummy food, played volleyball, tried slacklinging again (and decided that I should give up trying as it really hurts) and did a bit of star gazing. The kids also got chased by a very territorial magpie that only attacked children.

I forgot to pack our sleeping bags so we had to wear layers of clothing to bed and borrow blankets from friends. It was a great weekend and I look forward to more camping trips this summer...

Cheese, Chocolate, Pizza and Brisbane Festival...

The Brisbane Cheese Festival was on a Hamilton's Portside last Sunday. Being rather fond of cheese, Leon and I were waiting in anticipation all week for a taste of all the lovely cheeses on display. With wine for me and apple cider for Leon, we wondered around the stalls tasting yummy cheese and trying to decide which ones we wanted to take home. We ended up with a lovely washed rind cheese, marinated feta and a mature vintage. All very good!

After cheese we discovered that Max Brenner had opened at Portside. So it was time for coffee and chocolate. We shared a yummy, rich choc sundae...chocolate icecream, melted chocolate, choc waffer balls and choc brownie....sooooo good. ( So hungry as I write this.)

In the evening we went to Southbank for the Laser Light show and all the other festivities. We had yummy pizza for dinner and sat on the riverbank and watched the light show.
On the whole it was a lovely day out...

Mel...

P.S. I just found this post that I was going to put up last week...opps

Today I....

• did 4.5 hours of productive study...
• washed 2 loads of laundry....
• made hummus (using Gary Mehigan's recipe)find resipe here
• made bread (find recipe here)
• played with the dogs....
• spent 2.5 hours in the vegie patch, planting seedingling and pruning herbs...
• watched the adorable baby rainbow lorikeets learn to fly.

On the whole, it was a very satisfying day.

Exciting new possibilities...

I have often regretted not going to University when I finished High School. At the start of this year I was thinking why not? Why can't I go to uni? So I applied. After much waiting I finally got an offer from USQ to study a Bachelor of General Studies. I was sooooo excited. Today was my first day of serious study. I think it might take a little while to get used to the amount of reading that I have to do. I happen to have chosen a major that has an enormous amount of reading. But that is ok, I am excited about what I am going to learn over the next few months. This semester my fun subject is World History from 1500 to 1914.

Here is how I spent most of my day today...


Have a lovely week...
Mel